One of the early scenes that show the wonderful artwork done in noir style is when Johnny Viti is killed. The scene is all black and white but when he is shot the red water becomes the only thing in the picture that is colored.
The biggest commonality between Batman the Long Halloween and film noir is the use of underworld mafia figures. This series is about Batman trying to take down the organized crime in Gotham city. There are two major crime families, Falcone and Maroni, fighting for the top spot in the city. When members of the Falcone family begin to be murdered on holidays, Carmine, The Roman, Falcone suspects it is the Maroni family doing the killing. Maroni just as easily believes it is the Falcone family when theirs start dying as well. Dent, as well as others, are not so sure that all the bad guys being taken out is such a bad thing. Getting rid of the mafia would clean up Gotham. There would be less violent crime and less money laundering.
Batman also gets to do what he does best, along with Dent and Gordon, he gets to be a detective. You can't have a film noir without a detective, or three. Batman follows the crime lords, trying to learn if they know who Holiday is. He questions suspects and people who could provide insight, such as Julian Day, or Calendar Man. Batman also collects evidence. In one seen he is seen putting evidence in a plastic bag and another he is using a microscope to examine one of the guns Holiday left behind.
Batman the Long Halloween is one of the graphic novels knows as noir. It takes after many mafia films and show such as The Godfather and The Sopranos (which actually comes after the book but similar). There is even a special edition of the book known as the noir edition. Having another edition to the book specifically dedicated to noir just proves how similar it is.
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